


Stripper AU

by motorbike_on_the_avenue



Series: 30 days cheesy tropes challenge [17]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 30 Day Cheesy Tropes Challenge, Alternate Universe - Human, Stripper Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 02:17:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motorbike_on_the_avenue/pseuds/motorbike_on_the_avenue
Summary: Cas has been working as a stripper for three weeks. His family had cut him off from the family riches when he came out as gay two months ago. Now he has to pay his way in the world, and being a stripper was the only thing he could find at such short notice.Dean, Cas's best friend and room mate isn't too happy about the new job, but it's not for the reason Cas thinks.(There are mentions of customers being a little over familiar and leaving bruises)





	Stripper AU

**Author's Note:**

> There are mentions of customers being a little over familiar and leaving bruises

‘Don’t you think you’re taking this whole thing a little too far now?’ Dean asks. He’s sitting cross legged on the floor, hair messed up, in sweats and a tee.

‘What?’ Cas asks. He leans against the door a little, too tired to do much else. He’s only just come through the door. It’s 3am. Does his best friend have to do this now?

‘The trench coat. Isn’t it a little bit much with what you do for a living?’ Dean asks. Cas would knock his head against the door, but it’s so much effort to lift it. ‘You look like a flasher. Where did you even get it from?’ There is no way Cas is telling Dean that he found in the lost and found. He’ll throw it out first chance he gets.

Which will be in about twenty minutes when Cas falls asleep.

‘Just something I had lying around,’ Cas says instead. It was actually raining when he left the strip club, and this was the only thing he could find to protect himself. He stifles a yawn, and decides this is a good time to actually make it all the way into the house. ‘What are you even doing up?’ he asks. It’s why he stopped by the door; the surprise of the living room light being on, Dean sitting on the floor.

‘I have a 7am class, and I wanted to go to the gym beforehand.’

‘Isn’t 3am a little early?’

‘Isn’t 3am a little late?’ Dean says back. Cas debates going all the way to his bedroom. It seems like such a long way away. Instead he turns into the living room, lying back on the couch.

‘I’m home now. You can go to bed,’ Cas says. He knows this is the real reason why Dean’s still up; because he wanted to have another go at him.

Dean does not like Cas’s new job. He’s been very vocal about it. And now he looks at Cas like he’s dirty, like just because he gets up and takes his clothes off for people he’s not the guy Dean’s been best friends with since they were 8.

 

Cas has been working as a stripper for three weeks. His family had cut him off from the family riches when he came out as gay two months ago. Now he has to pay his way in the world, and being a stripper was the only thing he could find at such short notice.

It's the only thing he could find which fit in around his classes and his studying and paid good enough money that he could continue his life.

‘Cas. Cas, man. I gotta get to class and you’re lying on my notes. Again.’ Dean’s voice is hazy, like it’s being filtered through some kind of machine.  

‘Hmm? What?’ Cas mumbles. He swears he’s literally only just closed his eyes, but there’s a thin stream of sunlight through the window, so it has to be a couple of hours he’s been out.

‘Papers. Under you. Move,’ Dean says. ‘Come on Cas, I gotta be at class in twelve minutes.’

‘Yeah, okay,’ Cas says. He still doesn’t move, though, closing his eyes again.

‘Castiel Novak, I swear to God if you don’t move in the next ten seconds…’ and then Dean doesn’t even give him ten seconds, physically putting his arms under Cas and shifting him off the sofa. He shoves Cas onto the floor, and Cas can’t do much except think that the carpet needs a good hoover.

 

The living room light is on again. It’s been three months since Cas started this stripper job, and things have evened out a little bit – Cas was getting used to the no sleep. He could now function semi-normally on just a couple of hours a night and a vat of coffee a day.

Dean was up. And waiting for him, because it was only 2am tonight, and no way Dean was up to go to the gym. Maybe he’d just fallen asleep playing video games and wouldn’t even notice Cas coming home.

Tonight, had not been a good night. A couple of the punters had gotten a little handsy, and Cas sort of felt like he could feel those strange hands on him, ghosting over his skin or running though his hair. He wanted to shower for half an hour in the hottest water he could bear.

‘Cas? You back?’ Dean calls from the living room.

‘Yeah,’ Cas says. He walks straight past the living room, going into his bedroom. Drops the trench coat that he’s taken to wearing on the floor, and takes his t-shirt off.

‘That’s all I get?’ Dean has appeared in the doorway. ‘I haven’t spoken to you since Tuesday man.’

‘Dean, we live in the same house. If anything were to happen to me, don’t you think you’d know about it? Not to mention you’re my emergency contact so even if I did end up in hospital you’d be the first to know.’ Yes, Cas’s timing has been a little all over the place, and yes since he started this job him and Dean have lost the closeness they once had. But what is Cas supposed to do? He needs this job, he needs the money if he wants to stay in school. He’s never been ashamed of his body, doesn’t mind showing it off to other people and some of the costumes make him laugh. The other people at the strip club are good fun, and none of his grades are slipping; at the moment, this is the best Cas can manage. Trying to fit time in for Dean when he knows how Dean feels about how he spends his night…he doesn’t have it in him to fight all the time.

‘I’m your emergency contact? Since when?’ Dean asks.

‘Since my family stopped talking to me,’ Cas says. ‘My mother told me in no uncertain terms that I should change all the information, because if something did happen and they were called they wouldn’t bother coming.’

‘Oh,’ Dean says. ‘What are you covered in?’ Dean asks. He comes a little further into the room, gesturing to Cas’s upper body.

‘Hmm?’ Cas looks down at himself. ‘Oh. It’s body glitter.’ He runs a hand over his stomach.

‘You wear body glitter?’ Dean sounds disgusted.

Cas doesn’t have the energy but his fight or flight instinct is kicking in, and he can’t fly off because he doesn’t have superpowers.

‘Sometimes. Some nights I dress as a cowboy, or a builder.’

‘You, uh, you have a cowboy costume?’ Dean’s voice is strangled.

‘Yes. And this evening when I was up on stage, I had to put on fluffy wings and a halo and silver body glitter.’ Cas grabs some PJ’s from his top drawer, and whirls around to face Dean. Dean who is staring at the body glitter on his chest. ‘Take a picture it’ll last longer.’

Cas takes the bundle of notes he made tonight from his back pocket and throws them onto his bed. Dean’s eyes follow it, but his eyes have got an angry glitter to them. ‘Just go, Dean. I’m not doing this again.’ They’ve had this fight too many times. The ‘do you really need the money this much’ vs the ‘yes I really do’. The ‘I don’t understand how you can whore yourself out like this’ vs the ‘I am not whoring myself out to anyone, Dean, I am dancing and losing my costumes in front of people.’

Sometimes it’s the ‘I can’t believe you don’t see anything wrong with this’ vs the ‘I can’t believe you do.’

Once, in a 3am drunken row, when Cas had bought one of his stripper friends home the night before and slept with him it was ‘you know I think I’m starting to understand why your family disowned you,’ vs Cas not speaking to Dean for two weeks.

He’s not even sure Dean remembers saying it.

‘Cas, I don’t want to fight with you either.’ Cas wants to say that he’s doing a pretty crappy job of it, but he bites his tongue. Dean turns to go. ‘But I kinda miss you. We haven’t had a night on the sofa, doing nothing ever since you got this job, and you’re so distant and distracted all the time. Or half asleep. I know what your family did sucks, but it’s not like you weren’t expecting it, or like apart from the money it’s even made that much of a hole in your life. I miss my best friend. I’ve got stuff going on that I’d quite like to talk about to someone too, you know.’

Dean leaves then and Cas takes his shower.

But he feels like a crappy friend.

 

They do spend a night on the sofa and Dean does unload all his problems onto Cas. They slip back into their best friend routine and then Cas goes back to work.

 

Cas has bruises on his wrists. Up his arms. On his hips. On his thighs. He’s not sure where they all came from, but his guess is the party they had a couple of nights ago. It was a lot of men, most of them drunk, all of them grabby. They’ve left marks and Cas looks at the bluey black colours splashed on his skin and sighs.

It’s not the first time he’s been marked but it’s the first time it’s been so obvious. This is going to be hard to hide.

He tries. Long sleeves shirt with a collar pulled up. A sweater on top just in case.

He gets away with it, almost. It’s just before he’ll have to go out for work, and him and Dean are in front of the sofa, eating dinner and just hanging out. Cas has made more time for this, and he’s starting to remember why he wanted to put some distance between him and Dean, why he didn’t mind taking a job that made him so untouchable to his best friend, putting the look of disgust and anger there instead.

But Dean grabs his wrist when Cas goes for the last slice of pizza, telling him he’ll have to fight him for it, and Cas winces because ow.

And that’s all it takes.

 

‘You’re not going back.’

‘Dean, it was one night. One group. People aren’t usually so bad.’

‘Oh, well if that doesn’t just make me feel better.’ They’re both sober for this conversation, and Cas wishes it weren’t so. If Dean was drunk, he’d be more than likely to let something harsh slip out, something that would make him leave Cas alone for a while.

‘They are bodyguards at the club Dean. People who make sure that we don’t get hurt.’

‘Well they’re doing a pretty crappy job, don’t you think.’

‘Actually, they’re really good at what they do.’ Dean looks at him.

‘How many times have they had to protect you?’ Cas considers lying, but he’s never done that, not to Dean.

‘A few. Look people get drunk, and take things too far, but I’ve never been hurt. Not really badly any way.’ He’s been scared a few times, coming out of the club late at night, but the bodyguards hang around until all the dancers are gone, and that guy didn’t actually touch him, so really Cas has got nothing to complain about.

‘Yeah? I’m betting those marks on your wrist aren’t the only ones.’ Cas looks away.

‘I have to go. I’m going to be late.’

‘Oh, you just think I’m going to let you walk out of here? I don’t think so.’ Dean is taller than Cas, and he goes to the gym a couple of times a week, but Cas reckons he could take him. Dean can’t body block the door.

‘Dean, this isn’t your choice.’

‘Oh, you think I don’t know that? None of this is my choice. Jesus, man, are you kidding me? The idea of people putting their hands on you, not just to hurt you, but in any way? It makes me sick Cas, and I don’t know how much longer I can take this.’

‘Dean, I get that you find what I do disgusting,’ Cas says. He’s trying to keep calm, but those words sounded a lot like something he’s tried very hard not to hope for, and he can’t let himself hope now.

‘Cas, I don’t find strippers disgusting – are you kidding me? I’ve got nothing but respect for them. I find the idea of people looking at you, and thinking about you in that way hard to swallow because right now there are hundreds of people who have seen you more undressed than I have.’

‘Why does that bother you?’ Cas asks, but his heartbeat is picking up and he’s not even really breathing anymore and…

‘Because I’m in love with you, you dick,’ Dean says. ‘Don’t pretend like you didn’t know. Literally everyone knows. My whole family. The friends at college.’

‘Dean,’ Cas says, shaking his head. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘Shit. You didn’t know?’

‘No, of course I didn’t know. You really think I would have just ignored it?’

‘I thought you were. I haven’t been subtle about it Cas. The staring? The way I’m literally always touching you when I can? The sex jokes? The fact I haven’t slept with anyone in two years because I couldn’t bear the thought of bringing someone back with you in the next room?’ Cas just shakes his head. ‘So, now that you do know…what are you going to do about it?’ Dean sounds a little bit scared. Like he thinks Cas is just going to storm out and go and strip for a roomful of people.

Well, Cas can’t blame him. It’s what he’s been doing for the past six months.

But Dean has just told Cas what he’s been hoping to hear since he was 9 years old, and he’d be stupid not to do anything right now.

‘This,’ Cas says instead. He pushes Dean up against the wall in their living room, pinning his arms above his head, and kissing him with everything he has. Dean tastes like coffee, and pizza, and Cas…well Cas can’t really focus on anything else right now.

 

Cas goes into work that night and tells them he won’t be coming back. He tells them he’s sick, too, and won’t be performing that night. The people who run the place just shrug – they get a lot of people running out on them, at least Cas has told them, and not robbed from them.

Well.

That last bit isn’t exactly true.

He did take something from there that night.

But what can he say? His boyfriend likes it when he wears the cowboy outfit.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I have a thing where Dean really likes Cas in costume.  
> 


End file.
